Problem bunnies

[AmandaJane82a]

My grown up daughter had 2 rabbits, male and female both spayed who were put together with no problems. Sadly the male died, we got a new rabbit (male spayed) shortly after, as we thought the female was lonely, she was off her food and grooming us and the dog!

Now however the female refuses to accept her new friend, they are in separate cages and the male now scratches excessively.

Need some advice
Thanks
AJ

It's a tricky one! Where did the new male bun come from and was he already neutered? If he was from a rescue, you could contact them and explain and see if they have a different male bun to try matching your female with.

Did you let your female choose her friend? Like people, they don't always get on with each other, so in bereavement situations, the bereaved bun should be allowed to choose their new friend themselves. A good rescue would do this anyway.

Is the male definitely neutered? Or did you have him neutered? It can take a few weeks after neutering before they can really be put together.

Otherwise, I would suggest keeping them separate but close together so they can see, smell and 'chat' with each other. Then try them together again. You may have to do this gradually. Make sure they are introduced to each other in a neutral space. A new bun can't really be put in another buns territory and be expected to get along together. The existing bun will think their space is being invaded. Neutralise everything. Thoroughly clean the cage, food bowls, water bowls, any houses or toys and then move things around, so that the female doesn't regard everything as hers.

One thing you can do before you introduce them again is to swap their stuff. So, every evening, take the females food bowl, house etc and swap it with the males, so they get used to each other's scent.

Good luck

Thanks for your reply, sorry for the delay in replying but we are on a boat and the wifi quite challenging at times!

We seem to have tried all you suggested. The male rabbit is neutered and has been for while. No the female did not choose her partner, we live in a rural area and any re homing schemes wether for dogs, rabbits etc in our area seem to have foster carers rather than a centre. So due to distance this was not an option. We have tried the scary situation as suggested by the poster on another thread but the the female just tries to get the male he gets scared and runs.

I am sure my daughter will keep trying, she does try them together at least once a week.

Thanks
AJ